This invention relates to a beverage dispenser, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for correcting a cock driving device which automatically opens and closes a manipulating lever for a dispensing cock arranged on the body of a dispenser for dispensing a beverage.
An apparatus for dispensing a sparkling drink through lever manipulations, for example, a beer server is provided with a manipulating lever on a dispensing cock arranged on its body. The lever is manually tilted in one direction to dispense a predetermined amount of beer into a mug, and then the lever is tilted in the opposite direction to pour fine foam of beer on the dispensed beer in the mug. However, in manually dispensing beer and foam through manipulations of the lever, the dispensed amounts may differ from one operator from another. To solve this problem, an automatic dispensing apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 9-48498 as a technique proposed for automatically manipulating the lever by a driving device. In this apparatus, a motor arranged in a body is coupled to a dispensing cock manipulating lever through an attachment and a screw shaft to move the manipulating lever back and forth by normal and reverse rotations of the motor to dispense beer and foam.
The above-mentioned automatic dispensing apparatus is configured to move the manipulating lever between an open position and a closed position by controlling a rotation time of the motor using a timer. In this event, a shift in positions at which the dispensing cock and motor are mounted, relative to the server body, would result in a shift in relative position of the motor to the manipulating lever. If the motor is controlled by a previously set timer in this state, the manipulating lever could not be fully opened or be moved more than necessary in an opening direction to apply a load on the lever. In addition, even if the manipulating lever is moved from the open state to the closed state, the lever is not stopped correctly at the closed position, resulting in a leak.
It should be noted that the closed position of the manipulating lever may shift due to aging changes such as deformation of a rubber material arranged in a dispensing cock for blocking a beer passage port due to abrasion, deformation of a mount for mounting a manipulating lever on a cock body due to forward and backward movements of the lever, and the like. Therefore, similar problems to the foregoing will arise if the manipulating lever is manipulated by a driving device with the shifted state left uncorrected.
The present invention has been made in view of and for preferably solving the foregoing defects inherent in the cock driving device for a beverage dispenser according to the prior art. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for correcting a cock driving device in a beverage dispenser which are capable of correctly opening and closing a manipulating lever for a dispensing cock at all times using the cock driving device.
To solve the aforementioned problems and achieve the intended object, the present invention provides a method of correcting a cock driving device in a beverage dispenser comprising an actuator configured to come into engagement with a manipulating lever for a dispensing cock arranged on a body, wherein the actuator is moved to a standby position and to an operative position to move the manipulating lever to a closed position and to an open position, comprising the steps of:
sensing by sensing means provided in the actuator whether or not a sensed element of the manipulating lever staying at the closed position reaches a regular position with respect to the actuator staying at the standby position; and
moving the actuator for correction to a position at which the sensing means senses the arrival of the sensed element at the regular position, and setting this position as a new standby position if the sensing means does not sense the arrival of the sensed element at the regular position.
To solve the aforementioned problems and achieve the intended object, the present invention also provides an apparatus for correcting a cock driving device in a beverage dispenser comprising an actuator configured to come into engagement with a manipulating lever for a dispensing cock arranged on a body, wherein the actuator is moved to a standby position and to an operative position to move the manipulating lever to a closed position and to an open position, the cock driving device in the beverage dispenser, comprising:
a sensed element arranged in an interlock member integrally movable with the manipulating lever;
sensing means arranged in the actuator for sensing whether or not the sensed element of the manipulating lever staying at the closed position reaches a regular position with respect to the actuator; and
control means for moving the actuator for correction to a position at which the sensing means senses the arrival of the sensed element at the regular position if the sensing means does not sense the arrival of the sensed element at the regular position when the actuator is moved from the operative position to the standby position to move the manipulating lever from the open position to the closed position.